Hot Dogs & Fireworks

Yesterday was a wonderful holiday for those of us in Hoboken. We had a spectacular view of the fireworks over the Hudson River, a rarity as they are usually over the East River... and we also had one of those perfect, clear, summer nights which was a rarity of its own as we've had very rainy weather this last month.

Although laying down in the grass and watching fireworks in my city with my family and friends was unquestionably awesome, I must say the meal we enjoyed beforehand is certainly deserving of praise.

The Menu:

Grass-Fed Beef Hot Dogs from Hendricks Farm
Homemade Hot Dog Buns (recipe from Gourmet)
Homemade Zucchini Pickles (recipe from Zuni Cafe, via The Wednesday Chef)
Potato Salad with Brewmaster Mustard and Bacon (made by Eat More Butter's own Jamie Paxton)
Chopped Romaine Salad with a Balsamic/Fresh Oregano/Garlic Scape Dressing
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Peach & Blueberry Buckle (adapted from Gourmet)
Brownies (Mark Bittman's recipe, made by Jamie)
Apple Cider Donuts (from the Greenmarket)

Does it get more American that this? Probably... if everything was processed and loaded with chemicals, and bought pre-made at a big grocery store.

We as a people have gotten so disconnected from where our food comes from, and this last year has been such an awakening for me thanks to the good work that people like Michael Pollan, Nina Planck, Trent Hendricks and Rich Sisti are doing. It's not enough to eat organic or eat locally... it's about eating responsibly and intelligently. It goes without saying that it's a pleasure to cook for friends and family, especially those who appreciate good food. But when we can sit around a table and know exactly where all our food is sourced from... it's an extra special meal and something we can all celebrate.

All Eyes On Chopped Salad!

Those owls on my apron know what's up and they are especially excited: The CSA has started up for the season! I came home to my apartment today to find a glorious bag in my fridge (kindly delivered by Jamie) of organic vegetables grown for me at Catalpa Ridge Farm in Wantage, NJ by Farmer Rich Sisti. Could life be any better? It can. Inside the bag I found my all time favorite, green garlic, and texas sweet onions with their green tops, dill, rhubarb, lettuce and spinach.

The dill reminded me of a great chopped salad I had a couple of years ago at Philoxenia, a Greek restaurant in Astoria Queens, and so I recalled the taste of that great salad, and came up with the following: 

Chopped Salad with Dill, Onions, Feta and Lemon Dressing 

1 small Texas Sweet Onion (or 1 small yellow onion if you are not part of the CSA!)

a small handful of dill

lettuce

a good slice of feta

1/2 a lemon

olive oil

sea salt

pepper

Mandolin the onion into your salad bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and squeeze the lemon on top of the onion. Let sit while you wash, dry and chop your dill and lettuce. Combine all the ingredients in the bowl and toss until incorporated. Eat up! 

Would probably be great without the feta and with some pan fried halloumi cheese instead! Be sure to deglaze the pan with extra lemon juice if you go that route... mmmm... The dill keeps the dish light and refreshing and really stands up to the lemon and the cheese. It's a great start to the season!

My rediscovery of egg salad sandwiches!

Yesterday for lunch: egg salad on olive bread. 

Today for lunch: egg salad on olive bread with fresh hand-harvested baby arugula salad.

I have a feeling egg salad sandwiches will be a staple for me this summer, until I get sick of them. But what's to get sick of?? Ohh egg salad, I'm so sorry I've neglected your goodness for so long... 

Easiest Egg Salad

2 fresh farm eggs from pastured hens

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

a pinch of salt

cracked black pepper

First make hard-boiled eggs by putting them in cold water in saucepan and bringing it to a boil. Remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes. Drain off the hot water, and add cold water to the pot. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them and mash them in a bowl with a fork. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper and mix until incorporated. Spoon onto olive bread and devour. 

  

Radishes and butter love each other.

Got my hands on some wonderfully young and mild radishes at the greenmarket on Wednesday. Radishes aren't my favorite vegetable and yet there's two things I love to do with them: 1, put them in a chopped salad (as I will do tonight) and 2, make this sandwich. 

Radish with Raw Butter and Salt on Baguette

Butter both sides of the baguette with raw butter. 

Use a mandolin* to thinly slice a big radish. 

Arrange the radish on the bread, salting in between layers. Use more salt if you're using unsalted butter, and less salt if using salted butter.

That's it, four ingredients! It's so simple, and you may not think it would taste great, but believe me, it's a wonderfully refreshing, tasty sandwich! Great on a hot afternoon, like today. 

*Mandolins need not be big complicated things with lots of parts, I use this one and it makes prepping vegetables so easy! It also makes these radishes so delicate and wonderful to eat... they've got a little crunch but are soft as well! The salt especially makes them melt a little... 

Asparagus and what to do with them!

I made my way through the Union Square greenmarket yesterday with $4 and a desperate craving for spring veggies and luckily for me, the greenmarket was bursting with spinach, radishes, ramps and other enticing edibles... and mmmmmm asparagus! 

Avoiding the $8 bunches of asparagus, I found a vendor selling asparagus by the spear, and ever the frugal shopper, I hand-selected my 6 perfect chosen asparagus and handed over my money.

Now, what to do with asparagus you might ask? Well the answer is simple. Roast them!

Preheat the oven to somewhere between 450 and 500 degrees. Wash your asparagus and snap the tough ends off. Arrange on a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss them around a bit to coat. Roast for 10 - 15 minutes... the bottom will get browned and a little charred. 

These are good as a side for anything, one of those go-to vegetable recipes where you want something that's guaranteed to be delicious with a prep time of 1 minute. 

If you want, you can serve them the way I did today, with 2 poached eggs, shaved parmesan, a drizzle of creme fraiche and lemon juice, a slice of buttered multi-grain toast and some cracked pepper on top. Everything else was prepared while the asparagus were roasting. Couldn't be easier!

Yum. 

All Clad vs. Cast Iron

All Clad has long had a reputation for being the best pots you can buy, and they certainly have the price tags to back it up... but increasingly I've been favoring the two cast iron pans my parents picked up for me at a yard sale last summer for $10. They are thick, heavy, and came rusty and dusty... but a little steel wool and some scrubbing and seasoning, they cleaned right up and are simply incredible to cook on. Just today, Jamie and I cooked up a grass-fed ribeye in butter in the 10-inch cast iron and my one regret was that I didn't have a second large cast-iron to cook the potatoes in. The All-Clad had to do.... and it did of course. 

Ribeye with Pan-Fried Potatoes and the Greatest Side of Peas of All Time:

Ingredients:

A gorgeous grass-fed ribeye at room temp, rinsed, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper. 

A few Yukon potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

2 slices of bacon

One yellow onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds and then quartered

1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced

Frozen peas

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Hot Water

You need three pans. 2 big skillets, one small one, aaaaand let's get started.

In one big skillet, cook your two slices of bacon til they are how you like it and then remove them and put them to the side. Add some butter to the bacon fat in the pan and get the skillet nice and hot. Place the potato rounds in the skillet, making sure each slice of potato gets some access to the bottom of the pan. Season them up with salt and pepper and leave the potatoes to cook up for ten minutes.

At this point, in the small skillet, get some butter going on medium high heat and add the onions and a bit of salt. You want them translucent and beginning to caramelize. Add the garlic and some hot water out of a kettle (cold water could cause a cast iron to crack) and then the peas.... cover somewhat with a lid and leave the peas to cook for 7 minutes.

Get the other big skillet nice and hot over high heat, add butter and then place the steak in. Watch the clock.... 4-5 minutes per side and that's it!

By now the potatoes will be ready to be turned, so get a spatula in there and give them a turn. Give them another 7 minutes and then turn the heat down to medium/low while you wait for the steak. 

When the peas are done, take off the cover, and let them continue cooking so the water is cooked off. Crumble the bacon in with the peas and give them a good stir. They are amazing. 

Take the steak out of the pan and let rest for five minutes while you taste the potatoes and peas for salt levels and then plate them and watch the clock til it's time to attack the steak. 

Jamie is the best dinner guest.

So for New Year's Eve I planned an ambitious menu to cook for my family and friends (including Jamie)... I had flour on my face, pots and pans everywhere, and was completely in over my head as I made pizzas, squash, kale and brisket - don't ask, it totally went together! It could have been a disaster, but all went to plan and dinner was over by 11:30, with just enough time to pour some champagne and set up dessert in front of the television to watch the ball drop in Times Square. 

Gotta love that Jamie Paxton though.... she showed up at our house with the most glorious, most incredible, most delicious gift one could ever possibly show up to a dinner party with - breakfast for the next day.

And not just any breakfast, Zoe Nathan's Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake seen first on The Wednesday Chef. I cannot possibly stress how friggen phenomenal this cake is.... not too sweet, with just the right amount of tang, and the consistency of the finest corn muffin. It was a huge hit. 

I didn't think it could possibly be any more delicious, but this morning, the day after New Year's Day, my Dad got the bright idea to toast thin slices of the cake in a frying pan in butter - holy crap! 

Happy New Year!